What Is Intimacy?

When both partners work to create pleasant experiences of physical and emotional proximity for one another, intimacy in romantic partnerships increases. Put differently, closeness develops over time via repeated interactions with a person. Every exchange in a relationship, whether spoken or unspoken, strengthens the bond between the partners.

There are several different types of intimacy between spouses, including

Emotional intimacy
Physical intimacy
Spiritual intimacy
Intellectual intimacy
Sexual intimacy

The value of each type of intimacy in the relationship is influenced by multiple factors, including a couple’s values, beliefs, life stage, and cultural background.

How do Intimacy Exercises Work?

Activities aimed at strengthening your relationship with your spouse are called intimacy exercises. They achieve this via fostering emotional awareness, fostering possibilities for greater physical connection, fostering communication, and creating a sense of safety. To do intimacy exercises properly, one must have time, patience, and mutual dedication.

There are several paths that a couple can take to deepen their connection and enhance their bond. Since every relationship is different, some activities have a greater emotional resonance than others.

Here are 12 marriage intimacy exercises to try:

1. Do Something New Together

Navigating the unknown requires a certain amount of vulnerability. Couples that try new activities together can enhance their bond by sharing that experience of vulnerability with each other. Some new things to try with your partner include:

Learning a new language
Cooking lessons
Meditating together
Painting/crafting classes
Visit new art exhibits at your local gallery or museum
Attending a new theater or music performance
Couples yoga
Hiking
Playing a board game
Starting your own book club for two
Dancing lessons
Volunteering together

2. Turn Off the Phones

Although cell phones increase accessibility, face-to-face communication may occasionally suffer as a result. Consider creating designated areas free of phones or setting apart designated periods of time for couples to use technology. By fostering more possibilities for interaction, setting aside even 30 minutes or longer each week for "no phone time" might increase intimacy.

It might be hard to resist the allure of these devices and the programs created just for them. Some people may find this practice much more difficult due to their obsession with the internet and social media, which is commonly referred to as internet addiction and social media addiction.

3. Daily Hugs

A hug can be an easy, immediate way of experiencing and sharing a moment of physical intimacy. It has the benefit of being doable, even on those busy days when schedules are packed, and couples feel exhausted.

4. Question & Answer

Develop an ongoing list of questions for exploration in your marriage. They could be around future plans, past experiences related to worries and frustrations, or even identifying activities that bring you joy. When ready to start the exercise, choose one question and allow time for the first person to answer it while the other listens and eventually reflects on what they heard. Repeat the process for the second person.

5. Focus on Touch

An activity involving physical contact may be helpful if you're seeking for ways to improve your knowledge with what makes your spouse feel good or for a way to physically reconnect.

In this practice, one partner spends five minutes concentrating on touching the other to find out what makes them feel most happy. Allowing oneself to concentrate on their own satisfaction is the challenge for the one being caressed. Change roles, then do it again. Couples have the option to confine their touching to non-erogenous zones.

6. Get Nostalgic

Pull out the photo albums, videos, and keepsakes from years past, and take turns describing moments in your journey together. Potential topics could include; your first meeting, when you felt attraction growing, how you described your feelings to others, and when your partner made you feel safe.

Your intimacy can grow through this shared experience, and its practice may even remind you of forgotten aspects of your connection.

7. Truly Listen

Take turns sharing worries and concerns while the other listens. While this may seem simple, couples are often surprised by how much effort it can take to listen to their partner actively. Instead of thinking about a response or developing a rebuttal, try to understand what the other person is communicating.

8. Go on a Date

Many couples start their relationships on dates, but as everyday responsibilities like job and family mount, the frequency of dates may decrease. On a date, both partners have the opportunity to showcase their finest qualities, get to know one another, flirt, and have fun while spending quality time together.

Make dating a priority once more in your partnership. It's not necessary to go on costly or extravagant dates; you could even be able to stay home. Having supper at your favorite neighborhood restaurant, taking a long stroll, or ordering takeout and curling up to watch a movie are all great ways to build closeness.

9. Kissing Time

If sex can enhance your bond with your partner,4 it follows that participation in regular sexual activity might continue to do so. A kissing exercise is designed to highlight a method for promoting sexual intimacy outside of the actual act of having sex. Set aside some time (even 3 minutes) to enjoy just kissing each other without any other goal in mind.

10. Express Gratitude

Reflecting on and expressing appreciation for your partner builds intimacy by demonstrating your awareness of who they are and what they do. It tells them they are seen and valued.

11. Go To Bed Together

While couples may have different sleep requirements and schedules, there can be benefits to practicing this exercise regularly. It offers the chance to be physically close, whether lying next to each other or cuddling. It also gives you and your partner another opportunity to communicate.

12. Schedule Sex

Just making plans for sex might make it more likely that you will have it. By doing this, couples may debunk the myth that sex has to happen on its own.

Couples can prioritize their sexual intimacy by overcoming their resistance to scheduling sexual activity, rather than waiting for both partners to be simultaneously "in the mood" and equally free to act, without worry or constraint due to other personal, familial, or professional demands.

Re-establish Connection In an Existing Relationship

Maintaining a connection in most healthy relationships, whether romantic or platonic, takes work. Consider the scenario when friends reunite after a period of time. Both parties may question if the other is the person they recall them to be. They could ponder if the relationship can continue as it did and try to avoid showing their more sensitive sides. Couples may require events that revive their memories of one another, much like old friends.

That initial grin or embrace upon reunion might be all it takes to rekindle the relationship. For other pals, it can require more time. They could require time to rekindle their friendship's strength and proof that the other can listen to them without passing judgment.

Intimacy exercises may be used consistently to strengthen relationships between partners. Even if just for a little while, they advise couples to slow down and ignore all of the demands on their time and attention that come with daily life. Couples that want to do this might instead concentrate on building their connection.